Gordon Brown: British troops in Afghanistan cannot be 'occupying army forever'

Gordon Brown has said that British troops cannot stay in Afghanistan forever
and will “start coming home” as soon as Afghan forces can secure the
country.

Gordon BrownPhoto: AP

By James Kirkup

10:00PM GMT 13 Nov 2009

The Prime Minister also said he was confident that President Barack Obama will soon follow his approach by backing a short-term increase in troop numbers in Afghanistan as part of his new Afghan strategy.

Britain has more than 9,000 troops in Afghanistan and has taken 232 casualties since 2001. Mr Brown insisted that he has a strategy for withdrawing them, but gave no timetable.

“You cannot be an occupying army forever,” Mr Brown said in a BBC Radio Four interview. “Our strategy will be Afghan control of their own affairs. That will take some time but then British troops will start coming home.”

Mr Brown said: “British troops will start coming home as we start to show the Afghan forces can run their own affairs.”

Acknowledging growing public concern about the direction of the Afghan mission, Mr Brown said his strategy is the right one. But he admitted he must do more to persuade voters about his plan.

"We are having some success. But as the debate over these last few months has shown, there is a lot more that we have to do," he said. “We have to show there is a way forward for our British troops to come home if we pursue it.”

Mr Brown spoke after Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, increased the pressure for an early withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Mr Clegg said that the new US strategy will be the “last chance of success” in Afghanistan. Even if the strategy succeeds, the British public will not tolerate the mission for much longer.

He said: “I believe British combat troops will be home well within the next Parliament. That is what I believe the vast majority of British people want.”

That is a shorter timetable than the one suggested by Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, who has spoken of five more years of combat operations in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown has said he will increase British troop numbers by 500, if the Afghan government tackles corruption.

Mr Obama is deliberating over Afghan strategy, but Mr Brown said he believed the president will take a similar approach. He said: “I’m satisfied that the strategy I outlined a few weeks ago is very much in line with what President Obama wants to achieve.”

To help Mr Obama sell any rise in US troop numbers to American voters, Mr Brown wants other Nato allies to send more troops too.

As The Daily Telegraph revealed, the Prime Minister is sending ministers and advisers to European capitals seeking to win agreements to send a total of 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

Despite the failure of previous calls for Nato help, Mr Brown said he is confident.

He said: “I believe I can persuade countries who said only a few weeks ago they would send no more troops to Afghanistan that if we are training the Afghan forces that if there is a way forward that allows their troops to come home over time that it is right for them to contribute troops as well and so burden sharing will happen."

Critics including Kim Howells, the former Labour minister, have called for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan to focus resources on domestic counter-terrorism.

Mr Brown rejected the “Fortress Britain” approach, insisting that only by securing Afghanistan could Britain tackle international terrorism with roots in the region.

He said: “This is a job that is about the security of the United Kingdom.”